In the prior art, jet powered drones are frequently used as targets for medium to long range air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. Though effective in their ability to serve as targets for missiles, these drones are extremely expensive to acquire, operate, and maintain. In this respect, the acquisition cost for a prior art jet powered drone is typically in the range of about $250,000 to $400,000, with the associated asset and launch costs being about $12,500 and $20,000, respectively, per mission. Based upon a typical loss rate of approximately 50% for jet powered drones, the aforementioned costs result in a total cost in the range of $137,500 to $210,000 per mission.
The high speed glide target constructed in accordance with the present invention provides a realistic long range target for surface-to-air and air-to-air weapon systems, and is capable of executing single or multiple simultaneous/stream attack profiles. Because of its cost-effective construction and minimal support equipment and personnel requirements, the per mission cost associated with the present glide target is a fraction of the per mission cost associated with a typical jet powered drone. A further advantage attendant to the use of the present glide target is that it can be deployed or launched quickly and easily from civilian or military, aircraft which are equipped with standard target towing equipment. These and other advantages attendant to the use of the present glide target will be discussed in more detail below.